Automatic test equipment (ATE) is typically an automated, usually computer-driven, apparatus for testing devices, such as semiconductors, electronic circuits, and printed circuit board assemblies. One function of ATE is to capture signals from device pins.
More specifically, ATE receives signals from pins on a device under test (DUT). Circuitry in the ATE is used to obtain voltage values of those signals at points in time, and to reconstruct a waveform based on those values. Existing processes for obtaining such voltage values, referred to herein as “search processes”, can require a large number of iterations before an actual voltage value is obtained. The more iterations that are required, the slower the ATE becomes. Furthermore, large numbers of iterations take up valuable processing resources that could be allocated to other tasks.